Agency: Ally of Iran's Ahmadinejad freed from prison

DUBAI - A once-feared Iranian prosecutor at the center of a confrontation between two of the Islamic Republic's most powerful figures was freed on Wednesday, state news agency IRNA said, two days after he was arrested without explanation.

The former prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, was detained shortly after his political ally, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, publicly accused Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani's family of attempting to use their prominence for financial gain.

No reason was given by prosecutors for Mortazavi's arrest, but its timing suggested it was linked to the accusations of corruption and as the most recent indication that Ahmadinejad has lost favor with Iran's most powerful authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.